Blue Jays acquire reliever Cabrera from Cardinals
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The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired left-handed reliever Genesis Cabrera from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for catching prospect Sammy Hernandez, it was announced Friday.
The hard-throwing left-hander was designated for assignment by St. Louis earlier this week. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays designated right-hander Trent Thornton for assignment.
Katie Woo of The Athletic was first to report the trade.
Cabrera, 26, has struggled in 32 appearances this season for the Cards, pitching to a 5.06 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 32.0 innings. But Cabrera has given up a ton of hard contact in 2023, sitting in the 22nd percentile in average exit velocity and hard hit percentage. He's also in the top two per cent in terms of barrel percentage, according to Baseball Savant.
Cabrera averages 5.1 walks per nine innings and 10.7 Ks per nine this year.
The Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native has spent all of his five MLB seasons in St. Louis and has a career ERA of 4.14 in 174 big league appearances. He made his big league debut as a 22-year-old in May of 2019 in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Hernandez, 19, has played 42 games across two minor league levels this season. The Ponce, Puerto Rico native is slashing .213/.287/.367 with three home runs and 15 RBI.
Thornton has appeared in four games this season for the Jays, allowing one earned run in 5.1 innings. He's spent parts of the past five seasons with Toronto since debuting in 2019.